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Tag: Franciscan Health System

May2nd

When the writer complains that the Franciscan Health System does not provide “needed reproductive and end-of-life services” in its hospitals, she is speaking in euphemism. She means that the hospitals’ staff will not provide abortions, nor will they help dying people kill themselves.

These Catholic hospitals supply life-giving and life-saving treatments, refusing to deal out death to the very young and the very ill. Many of us find it reassuring to have hospitals available which insist on the value of human life and which provide only real health care – the kind …

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April28th

When decisions about our health care are made in a corporate boardroom instead of in our community, we all lose. That’s why I’m so concerned about the recent actions by Franciscan Health System.

Franciscan Health Systems is not meeting our community needs. Under the Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care, the Franciscans are ordered by their bishops not to provide needed reproductive and end-of-life services for our communities and may be required to deny needed care to the LGBTQ community.

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Feb.20th

As a retired public employee and Service Employees International Union member who voluntarily pays monthly retiree dues, I was inspired by the hundreds of St. Joseph/Franciscan Health System workers who signed their names urging St. Joseph’s Medical Center to negotiate a fair contract with them through their union, SEIU Local 1199NW.

As an employee and union officer, I served on several contract negotiating committees, and I know unions don’t buy half-page ads (TNT, 2-19) if employers are bargaining in good faith. It’s unnecessary, and the workers, who are the union, can’t afford it.

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Nov.29th

I find all the outrage and hand-wringing over the Tacoma City Council’s decision not to include a sunset clause when increasing the business and occupation tax for MultiCare and Franciscan health systems very instructive.

We are told that increasing the B&O tax on these two large corporations should have a sunset clause as the city’s budget problems are only temporary.

I guess I missed this argument in March when the council voted to increase the sales tax by 0.1 percent and just recently approved a $20 tax on car tabs. …